Sucker for pain
by iiStrawberry Lushx
Summary: Ashley and Shepard, they have been involved since the very beginning, but after Shepard's death drives them apart, she finds herself alone. Two years have passed since then, and she's been rising in rank in the alliance. She's been taking on her own missions and doing quite well, but what if Shepard's past comes back to haunt her instead? Inspired by Heathens by twenty one pilots
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here is a new remake, this one I felt would be better. Some things are the same but some things will be different. Here is the intro, and so far I'm pretty proud of it. Let me know if there is any feedback that any of you may have. Thanks~**

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One. Two. Three

The sound of loud footsteps could be heard down the empty hallway of the deserted construction building. The pallid walls that were surrounding the hallway were no longer white and were stained with blood and dirt.

The old abandoned building has been left uncharted for too long, it belongs to one of the most vicious gangs in the galaxy. Heathens. Unlike the mercenaries that operate offworld, these brutes are more vicious than one could ever expect. They will rip their enemies limb from limb, literally. There will be no trace of the victims that were left behind, the bodies along with their identity will disappear. It is almost as if the person had never existed in the first place.

 _You'll never know the psychopath sitting next to you_

The was a large crowd of people who were chasing after the lone prisoner in a haste. Many of them were messed up, many of them have mangled limbs while the others are wearing face masks to cover up their hideous deformities. There was a large man that stood among the crowd, he was more frightening than any of the psychos that stood among him. He was the right-hand to the leader, the executioner.

 _You'll never know the murderer sitting next to you_

Before the prisoner had the chance to praise the blessings of stars for her successful escape, there was one man in her way. The asari stopped dead in her tracks as she eyed the man curiously as he smiled at her. The man was very handsome, extremely handsome with a slender build. He appeared to be of Asian descent although his features were striking in comparison to the crazies that were chasing after her. The jet black hair that was neat and the casual attire that the man was wearing made her assume that he was an innocent civilian that ventured into the wrong area. There were no visible deformities on the man that the asari could point out, at least not from where she was standing.

 _You'll never know the freakshow sitting next to you_

The man had a sweet smile, one that could fool even the strongest of minds, that he flashed at her. "Eclipse?" There was the remark about the yellow uniform that she was wearing and that is when things began to shift. "Where do you think you are, holmes?" he questioned moving into full the woman's full view and that is when she noticed the bloody bat that the man was hiding behind him.

The woman was trapped on all sides at this point. The large terrifying man with the chainsaw with the bloody hospital mask and the beautiful man with the porcelain face with the spiked baseball bat. The eclipse member was surrounded by freaks, and it wasn't until the beautiful man got closer that she had finally noticed the pink charred flesh that poked out from his neck and she released the smallest of sighs knowing that this was her end

 _It looks like you might be one of us_

 **This is Emily Wong now reporting some disappearances. Most are rumored to be mercenaries while others are beginning to link in some sort of mob. Some residents believe that their loved ones are being kidnapped while others think that this is a lowly gang just trying to leave their mark. It's difficult to distinguish at this point in time about what it could be. The alliance is confident that they will find out the reason behind all of these disappearances.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the first official chapter of SFP. I hope this was a good way to begin the story, since I was struggling trying to find a decent angle. Give me any feedback that you may have, and there will definitely be more to come~**

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After spending a day and a half on the alliance ship, Ashley felt relieved as the large blue and white planet come into full view. She had recieved a transmission from Admiral Anderson two days before, and he had informed her about the disappearances. Apparently, there have been many disappearances over the past few weeks, most were petty gangsters while there were others that were linked in with the alliance. That isn't what had compelled the lieutenant commander to take part in this mission. It was the fact that the suspect was linked to her old commander - Commander Adam Shepard.

It had been two years since the Commander had passed, and Ashley was still very heartbroken over it. Adam was someone who was very special to her, she had never fallen so hard for any man in that way. He was someone who was very kind to others, he always went out of his way to help others who were in need. Ashley was certain that he was a better person than she was in many different aspects - he always believed in the best in people wheras she always kept her guard up. He made her want to believe that there was still good in the world, and that everyone deserves a second chance. Urdnot Wrex, especially. Ashley was ready to cap a bullet in the krogan on Virmire, and be done with it. Shepard is the one who not only successfully talked him down, but he let her know that he was their friend who was going through a difficult time. Now, that didn't make the lientiant trust the krogan completely, but she was willing to give him another chance.

The pilot of the ship had announced that they were a few minutes from the landing post and Ashley was eager to get off the ship. She was itching to figure out what connection the commander had with this suspicious fellow; the admiral seemed to have more information on this guy that she was looking into, but he refused to give her anymore details. It looks like she was going to have to start with her very first lead - Finch, from the tenth street Reds. She didn't like the idea of meeting up with the old gangster that had threatened them, but the admiral suggested that it was a good place to start. What made the woman even more nervous was the fact that she was going to be doing this mission solo. The only reason that Anderson had given her was that it was because she was the only one besides the commander that he could trust to get the job done. How on Earth could she turn it down after someone says something like that to her? Ashley went from being the shame of the alliance due to her grandfather's actions to being promoted to a commander of her own. It wasn't anywhere near Shepard's rank; however, no other marine in her family made it this far until now. She wasn't going to disappoint Anderson, not now and not ever.

Ashley was the first one off the alliance space ship after it had landed on the port. She had recieved a letter on her omni-tool that had been left by an anonymous source, and after reading the message, she already knew who had sent it to her.

 _Meet me at the pier if you wanna talk business._

 _Sender: Unknown_

The only person who she could think of was Finch, and she didn't have the slightest clue about how he found out about her. They didn't officially meet on the citadel, Ashley was in Shepard's party at the time and she agreed with his choice in not helping them. Shepard wasn't going to release Curt after finding out that he had poisoned Turian cargo, and Ashley felt like he made the right choice. Now, she wasn't a fan of aliens in the slightest, especially the Turians, but she wasn't going to run a hate campaign against them. After working with the aliens though, Ashley was starting to come around to the idea that not all of them were against humanity. She could only go one step at a time, though.

Ashley made it down to the fishing docks as soon as she had recieved the message. It was the only one that was near the alliance station, and she had seen the familiar figure standing on the white sand beach. Finch. It has been years since Ashley had last seen him, but she recognized that red uniform anywhere.

The average looking man turned to face her with a hard, cold stare and said the following. "What brings you to our terriroty anyways?"

Ashley had a bad feeling as her eyes darted around to make sure that they were actually alone before she followed the question with her own. "I'll be the one asking questions," the woman spoke up as she kept her eyes on the sketchy gangster. "How did you know I was coming?"

"Your old captain, Shepard, certainly has a lot of loose ties around here." The man answered with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you know about him? I heard rumors that you two were involved." This man was trying to play games with her, and Ashley was only a second away from shooting him in the back.

"Mind your damn business." There was a familiar sense of rage that filled the woman at the mention of her lost love, and the fact that it was brought up by someone so vile only fueled her rage. "I'm here for answers, nothing more." she responded rather sharply.

Finch remained unphased by Ashley's raging temper and only shrugged his arms with an amused smirk. "Nothing comes free, friend." there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone that only provoked the woman even further.

"Name your price." Ashley took a deep breath trying to conjure up what little patience she had left.

"You gotta release Weisman." Finch requested with the smirk on his face only widening at the look of contempt over the woman's face. A favor for a favor, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here is the next chapter. I had to figure out which direction I wanted to take, and it finally came to me. :] Thank you to anyone who is following this story, I plan on keeping it up and hopefully it kicks off eventually.**

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An hour later, Ashley had managed to make it to the other side of the city. She had instantly noted how run-down this side was compared to the other side, and it would make perfect sense for a gang to be hiding out here. _How cliche._ Ashley rolled her eyes at the thought as she carefully made her way through the streets down using the omni-map that Anderson had provided for her earlier.

There was a feeling of dread that was tugging at the Lieutenant commander's gut during the call with Anderson about the possible release of Weissman. If this whole mission hadn't involved any connections to her old lover, Shepard - Ashley happily would have let this man rot in the jail cell where he belonged. Weissman was a menace to society, he was too dangerous to live free in the streets; however, Ashley needed his information badly. She was tasked with the job of searching for the missing humans, and the fact that Shepard was connected to this whole thing made her all the more desperate to know what's going on.

After Anderson had informed her that he made the call, there was a source of anger that flared up at Finch's smirk. "See, that wasn't so bad." he scoffed as he stared dead at the female soldier like he was almost begging for her to punch him. "You didn't hear it from me, but there an old abandoned parking garage on the other side of the city..people disappear in the area he all the time. It should be worth looking into." the older man mused.

Just like before, Ashley eyed Finch suspiciously as he was telling her about the abandoned parking garage. He knew far too much for this to be a 'helpful insight' to her situation, but she wasn't going to press him any further. She couldn't stand these xenophobic monsters terrorizing the aliens, even though she wasn't a fan of them herself. There were the ones on the Normandy he just who helped ease her fear of them trying to take over, but Rome was not built in a day and her negative views wouldn't be changing anytime soon.

 _The person who I am suspecting is behind all of these disappearances is the one who is linked to the commander._

Ashley was now standing in line for the taxi cab and she was using her omni-tool to send back the information that Finch had provided for her. There was still the feeling of regret that she released that monster into the world, but she reassured herself that she would eventually come back and finish the job.

 _He's not the monster you may believe him to be. He was a good kid once...one that has been misguided by the wrong crowd._

Ashley could remember the soft expression that lingered on Finch's fe as he spoke about the suspect that she was chasing down. _How does he know so much? Why would he even care?_ What made Ashley more confused was that this so-called gang was mainly targeting aliens, especially those from different gangs. There have been plenty of humans who have gone missing as well, but she assumed that it could have been the wrong place at the wrong time. The point was that any person in that area would go missing, and were never seen again so she could only assume what this gang's motive was.

An hour later, Ashley had managed to make it to the other side of the city. She had instantly noted how run-down this side was compared to the other side, and it would make perfect sense for a gang to be hiding out here. _How cliche._ Ashley rolled her eyes at the thought as she carefully made her way through the streets down using the omni-map that Anderson had provided for her earlier.

The further Ashley went into the run-down part of the city, the more anxious she was beginning to feel. She couldn't understand where this feeling of dread was coming from, but it was starting to become impossible for her to ignore. She tried her best to ignore and decided to venture on until she found the old parking garage that Finch mentioned earlier.

Reaching forward to inspect the door knob, it was left unlocked and against her better judgement, Ashley decided to venture forward. _This place looks long abandoned._ The lieutenant commander observed aptly, scanning around for anything suspicious.

There were old and recent dark stains scattered all around the floor that drew suspicion, but aside from that the rest of the place appeared to be completely deserted. Finch probably had something to do with the disappearances himself, and decided to bring up this place to throw her off his trail. "I knew that bastard had something to do with this!" she grunted heading back for the door after finding out that she wasted her time.

Once Ashley made it back outdoors, she turned on her omni-tool to call Anderson to inform him that Finch had given her a bad lead. As soon as Anderson's face came up, Ashley began debriefing him only to realize that her tool was on mute and slowly the static began taking over eventually ending the call. "What the hell?" she cursed and frantically began pressing the buttons on her omni-tool to fix whatever happened.

"You're in zee vrong bart of zee city, peaudiful"

The deep voice appeared from behind her and before Ashley could see who it was - there was a cloth that was pressed to her nose and mouth. Ashley tried her best to not breath in the odd scent as she struggled to get away, but the person had taken her by surprise and she didn't have enough time to react properly. Unfortunately, when Ashley began suffocating, she chose to breath resaulting in the strong fumes finally taking her and blacking her out completely.

"I found ein new toy to blay vith, poss. Arh ! Und sche is ein bretty one.."

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To Be Continued


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